


For A Christmas Tree

by snugglechesters



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Christmas, M/M, Minor Balthazar/Anna Milton, Minor Gabriel/Kali (Supernatural), dean works on a christmas tree farm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 08:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9116041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snugglechesters/pseuds/snugglechesters
Summary: Castiel goes to a Christmas tree farm to get a tree for his family, hoping it will bring them a little holiday spirit. He doesn't expect to get a guy's number.





	

 

* * *

            Castiel trailed his hand along the banister and he stepped down the stairs, peering into the living room as he descended. Michael was sitting at his desk, surrounded by papers and typing furiously on his laptop. Anna was lounging on the couch, switching her attention from some reality TV show to tapping her thumbs on the phone glowing in her hand. The situation didn’t look promising for Castiel’s plan, but he soldiered on anyway.

            He tentatively walked up to the couch and cleared his throat. No one moved or seemed to have noticed at all. “Excuse me,” he said a little louder. Anna glanced up, and apparently noticed he had something to say, because she finished a text and paused the TV. “Yeah?” she asked.

            “I was just thinking…it’s getting closer to Christmas and I think it’d be nice for us to get a tree, maybe decorate a little…?” He trailed off questioningly.

Anna squinted her eyes in sympathy and Michael stopped typing abruptly, sighing. Castiel’s heart clenched a little at that.

Anna looked at her brother apologetically, saying, “I’m sorry, Castiel, but I’m not really in the mood. I think I’m getting sick and Balthazar and I sort of had a fight today. I’m not really feeling in the spirit.”

Castiel looked over at Michael, no real hope in his face. “Castiel,” Michael sighed again. “I can’t go now, I have a lot of work to do.”

_You always do_ , Castiel thought, inwardly rolling his eyes.

He hummed his understanding though, trying not to reveal his disappointment. “Maybe Gabriel will come with me. I don’t think he has anything to do.”

He turned around to go ask him, but flinched in surprise when he realized Gabe was actually standing right behind him. “And that’s where you’re wrong, baby bro. I have very important plans that I just _cannot_ cancel tonight.”

“And what would that be?” Castiel asked, narrowing his eyes.

Gabe winked. “Getting drunk as hell over at Kali’s house party and hopefully convincing her to take my sorry ass back.” He danced over to the entryway to stick his feet in a pair of beat up combat boots.

Castiel tilted his head in confusion and Anna snorted. “I don’t think getting fall-down drunk is a smart way to try and woo someone,” Castiel said, following Gabe to the door and he bundled up. “Especially at that person’s house.”

“Oh, ye of little faith,” Gabe sang, slapping Castiel on the back. “She won’t be able to resist me.” And with that last comment, he waggled his eyebrows, spun around, and escaped out the door.

He could hear Anna laughing and Michael sighing— _again_ —as he went back to typing. “Why do you even want a Christmas tree, Castiel?” he asked, completely ignoring the previous exchange.

Castiel deflated. Did it really have to be that complicated? It was Christmas, that’s what families did. They went out and cut down a tree and decorated it and sung songs by a fire and were just…happy together. It seemed that every year, Christmas became a little less magical, people didn’t seem as cheery, and his siblings’ attempts to try to act as a family tapered off into virtually nothing. They hadn’t gotten a tree last year, and Castiel had never admitted to anyone how much that fact had bothered him. He was determined not to let it become a tradition, even if he had to bring Christmas to his family by himself. But Castiel couldn’t say all this; he had to keep up the illusion that their family wasn’t as broken as he felt it was. For their sake and his own. He struggled to find the right words, ones that were true, but wouldn’t seem melodramatic to Michael. Difficult, considering Michael found Castiel to be overly emotional most of the time anyway.

He sucked in a breath. “I don’t know,” he started slowly. “I just think it’d be nice to have one, it’s Christmas and it’d look nice in the living room. Brighten up the place for the holidays.” His words sounded weak even to him, and Anna eyed him curiously. Castiel clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly and stood there lamely.

He looked at Michael who was rubbing his temples. His brother looked tired, and Castiel felt a pang of guilt and sympathy. Anna bit her lip, glancing between the two brothers. Michael sucked in a breath, but before he could say anything, Castiel just stuttered out, “Nevermind, it’s fine.” Michael’s mouth fell closed and Anna looked away. “Keep working, I know you’re busy,” he continued. “I’m going to go out, though. I’ll be back in a while, I’m not sure how long it will take.” And before they could protest—if they were even planning to do so—he grabbed his coat and car keys, and slipped out the door into the cold night.

 

 

Castiel drove on, fingers tapping restlessly against the steering wheel as he passed by sleepy streets softened with snow, the white sparkling like diamonds in the dimming light. It was almost six o’clock on a Friday; he had plenty of time to get a tree for his family. Even if he would have to drag it home all by himself.

It was about a 20-minute drive to the nearest tree farm; he had decided to cut one down instead of just buying one off the side of the road. He wanted the whole experience, though it wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable alone. He tried not to dwell on that, hoping instead that his gesture would ease some of the quiet tension that currently laced every interaction between him and his family.

After pulling into a parking spot near the front (it didn’t seem to be very busy), Castiel fixed his hat atop his head and wriggled on his mittens. He approached the main building and picked up a saw from the gruff but friendly man stationed at the table that acted as a desk where one paid for their tree. He rattled off instructions that had Castiel struggling to follow: “Smaller trees are closer to the front, bigger one’s in back. We got firs on the left side: Douglas, Balsam, and Fraser; and then towards the right side we got pines and spruces. Prices change with type and size, so you just pick one you like and bring it back here, we’ll figure out the exact charges, someone’ll help you get ‘er all loaded up, and then you’re set.” He smiled beneath his cap and handed Castiel a piece of paper. “That’s a basic list of prices for you to go by.”

“Thank you,” Castiel said, staring carefully at the leaflet, as he hadn’t really absorbed everything the man had just explained. He walked slowly to the door and made his way towards the forest of trees.

 

 

Wandering through the rows, Castiel relaxed a bit. The night was rather calming; the sharp scent of pine surrounding him, the night sky a muted black, with pinpricks of stars here and there, and the almost-silence that came from being outside the city and encircled by trees. The air was crisp, cold, but rather than feeling constricting, it filled his lungs, crackled down his spine, raced through his veins. It was both exhilarating and strangely ataractic.

He pulled a glove off and began to run his hands over the branches, some needles poking his fingers and others with spines dull enough that they simply slid comfortably through his hands. He sighed and looked down at the map-slash-price list the man had given him. Castiel shouldn’t be gone too long; he wanted to return home fairly quickly. Not that he loved being home. In fact, he wished he didn’t have to go back for a while, and he could just sit out here under the stars. But they would be expecting him, and he had promised them a tree.

Castiel was far from an expert when it came to trees and he stared down at the map like it could answer all his questions for him.

His feet had begun to feel numb when he heard a voice behind him. “Need a little help?” He started, and turned around to see a man approaching him, similarly bundled up. As the man got closer, Castiel could see that he was about his age, maybe 17 or so, and had sharp, but surprisingly _pretty_ features. He was wearing a black jacket, black gloves, and a red hat.

Castiel gripped the pamphlet a little tighter; the man was _very_ attractive. He didn’t have many friends at all, let alone experience with talking to good-looking strangers. “Do you…work here?” Castiel asked.

The man smiled, and Castiel noticed he had bright green eyes and a smattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose. Castiel couldn’t help but wonder if they were even more prominent in the warmer months.

“Yep, the name’s Dean, this is my uncle Bobby’s tree farm. You probably met him at the office, big surly guy with a beard and trucker hat,” he laughed.

Castiel smiled, remembering. “Yes, I did happen to run into him. My name is Castiel.” He held out his hand, and Dean shook it with raised eyebrows.

“Wow, that’s a mouthful,” he muttered.

Castiel smiled wryly. “Yes, I’m used to that reaction. Unfortunately children don’t typically get to name themselves.”

Dean studied him for a moment. “It is pretty complicated, but I like it. I think it suits you.” He lifted one side of his mouth in a small smile.

Castiel hoped Dean couldn’t see him blush. “You think that after having known me all of 2 minutes?” he teased.

That got a full-blown grin that made Castiel’s heart soar. “Yep!” Dean exclaimed. “I’m very intuitive, I can tell things about people right away.” He tapped his forehead with a mock-serious expression.

“Oh yeah? What else do you sense about me?” Castiel was surprisingly himself with his flirtation, but it felt so easy he couldn’t help it. Dean seemed like the kind of person that could help anyone feel comfortable.

Dean’s smile turned positively wicked and Castiel felt a thrill race down his spine. “I sense…that I have been sent to you by destiny to help you find a kick ass tree! Now let’s get started! We’re burnin’ daylight here.” He rubbed his hands together. “What kind of tree you lookin’ for, Cas?”

“I—“ Castiel started, but then stopped when he realized what Dean had just said. “Cas?”

Dean looked confused for a second, then understanding smoothed out his brows. Castiel swore he saw a blush creeping into Dean’s cheeks when he ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh yeah, sorry. It just came out, Cas is shorter, easier to say and remember. I’ll just—”

“No,” Castiel interrupted. Dean looked up. “I…don’t mind. I’ve just never had a nickname before, but I like “Cas”. He smiled shyly at Dean, who returned it warmly, relief evident in his eyes.

“Really? I’m surprised. Never had a nickname?” Dean pressed. “With that name, and those eyes?” After he said that, Dean’s own eyes widened and he bit his lip, like he hadn’t meant to say that.

“What do you mean?” Castiel asked. “Why would my eyes illicit a nickname?”

“I don’t know,” Dean replied slowly. “I mean, they’re like…really bright blue. Like…the bluest blue to ever blue.” Castiel smiled, incredibly pleased. “They’re gorgeous,” Dean added quietly, then quickly cleared his throat. “Okay, anyway, umm…what kind of tree again?” He took the pamphlet from Castiel and pretended to study it, even though he probably had the farm layout and tree prices memorized.

A pleasant warmth was thrumming through Castiel’s body and he could feel his pulse strong in his chest, beating strong and steady in the presence of this green-eyed man. He smiled to himself and purposefully leaned closer to Dean, pretending to look at the map as well. “I hadn’t said any specific tree before, but I think a fir tree would be satisfactory, I’ve heard those are quite popular.”

Dean scoffed, his mouth turned up on one side. “Where’d you hear that? The Christmas tree weekly review?” He nudged Castiel playfully and Castiel just rolled his eyes.

“I’ve done research,” he sniffed, plucking the map from Dean’s hands and heading in the direction the firs were located.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Dean protested, hurrying to catch up. “I’m the one who works here, I lead the way!” And he sauntered ahead, turning on his heel once he reached the fir area. “Ahem,” he began, speaking in a regal voice, fake accent and all. “This here is our Fir territory. We have sizes both small and large, and many in between. Firs may be distinguished from other members of the pine family by the unique attachment of their needle-like leaves and by their different cones. Observe.” He ran his hand along a branch of a nearby tree and offered it up for inspection.

Castiel blinked. “Did you…memorize that from Wikipedia or something?”

Dean gasped, hand to his heart. “How could you accuse me of such a thing? Can’t a young man simply be passionate about the beauty and creativity of nature?”

Castiel raised an eyebrow. “No,” he replied, deadpan.

“Oh,” Dean sighed, dropping his hand. “Well in that case, I fold. My beautifully crafted speech actually came straight from Wikipedia. Bobby wanted me to be more knowledgeable for the customers or something. That was the first bit of research I did; I memorized that, then got bored and decided Game of Thrones was more important.” He shrugged. “You can hardly blame me.”

Castiel smiled, further inspecting the trees around him. “I guess I can’t, I’ve heard it’s a good show.”

Dean looked baffled. “You haven’t seen it?” he asked, sounding almost offended.

Castiel shrugged. “I’m more of a reader I suppose. I’m sorry if you think less of me.”

“Psh, never,” Dean replied easily, only causing the other man to smile even wider. “Don’t worry, Cas; I’ll show it to you sometime,” he said, then stopped abruptly and looked away.

Castiel’s heartbeat was pounding in his ears now. Not only had Dean used his nickname again, but he’d also made it seem as if they’d be seeing each other again, as if he _wanted_ to. But Dean was now rubbing the back of his neck and looking away from Castiel; had Dean meant to say that? Maybe it was just a gut reaction and he didn’t actually wish to spend time with Castiel. Why would he?

“I mean, if you _want_ to,” Dean was saying. _Wait, what?_

Castiel shook himself a bit, trying to disentangle himself from the dark thoughts swirling around his head before they became too substantial.

“I just kinda said that without thinking, about showing you Game of Thrones. I mean, we only just met and you don’t really know me, I mean… _I’d_ like to hang with you, but I guess it was a little…forward of me or whatever,” Dean was babbling, blush creeping from his cheeks to his neck and Castiel thought it was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. He opened his mouth. To say what, he wasn’t sure, but then—“You know what, just forget it,” Dean laughed, but it sounded fake, uncomfortable, forced. Castiel’s half-concocted sentence died in his throat. “It’s fine, let’s find you a tree! I promised I would help, didn’t I?” Dean finally looked him in the eyes and smiled. It was genuine, but more guarded than before.

Castiel didn’t know what to say; his heart sank, but he let the unfinished conversation blow away with the swirling snow. “You did,” he said quietly, smiling back.

 

They walked through the rows, comparing and contrasting heights and respective fullness of branches, something Dean assured Cas was very important for a proper Christmas tree.

After finally finding one that had a passable amount of branches and was a manageable height, Dean insisted on cutting it down for Castiel. He stopped though, when the saw was almost all the way through the sweet-smelling bark, and allowed Cas to finish it, shouting, “Timber!” as it fell, the branches releasing a small flurry of snow.

They dragged it back to the office together, one of them on either side, although it was hardly a two-man job. Silent, they exchanged small smiles in the dark, the swishing of evergreen against snowy grass trailing their muted footsteps.

Bobby eyed Dean standing nearby while Castiel paid for the tree. “Really seeing this transaction though, ain’tcha boy?” Castiel didn’t really think anything of the comment, but Dean glared at the older man, which only caused Bobby to raise an eyebrow and chuckle.

“I’ll help Cas load up the tree,” Dean said as Castiel finished signing the receipt.

Bobby looked up again, fighting a smile. “Uh huh,” he grumbled, and Dean ushered Castiel outside fairly quickly after that.

After making sure the tree was tied securely to the top of Cas’ car, and after Dean had clicked his tongue and lectured Castiel about what a “real” car was, they stood facing each other in the parking lot. Castiel had his hands in his pockets, but he stared at Dean, eyes roaming over his face, thinking. Dean fidgeted nervously, shuffling his boots and glancing at Castiel only to look away, then flicking his eyes back, seemingly just as caught as Castiel felt.

Castiel’s heart was pounding again, nerves tingling with anticipation and excitement, as if this had been a date or something. It was silly, he thought. Dean’s earlier words echoed in his mind: _We only just met_.

But then, Castiel suddenly realized that he didn’t care. He didn’t care if Dean and him had been perfect strangers an hour ago; he didn’t care that they’d only known each other for a fraction of a fraction of a lifetime. He felt as if he’d known Dean his whole life. And his entire being ached to know more, to be closer, to share secrets and laughs and endless sunny days and maybe even the cloudy ones too.

“Dean,” Castiel said calmly. Dean’s eyes stayed locked on his.

“Yeah?” Dean all but whispered.

“What you said before, about showing me Game of Thrones?” Dean frowned a little but kept eye contact. “You told me to forget about it, but you also said that you _would_ like to…”hang out”, as you put it. I didn’t get the chance to reply,” he leveled a small glare at Dean with that remark, “but I would also like to see you again. If you still wish to. It doesn’t matter to me that we haven’t known each other very long, I feel I’ve learned much about you, and I would like to learn more.” Castiel couldn’t believe he’d just admitted all that, but it was the truth and he felt lighter for having said it.

Dean cracked a smile so big it seemed it would split his face. “Me too, Cas.” He huffed an astonished laugh. “Me too,” he repeated, apparently too relieved to say anything else. Castiel couldn’t help but smile back so big his teeth must have been showing; a trait he usually hated, but couldn’t find it in himself to care at that moment.

He turned back to his car and grabbed a pen and scrap of paper out of his glove box, quickly jotting down his number “Thank you for helping me find a tree. You accomplished the task that you sensed you were sent here for.” Dean laughed at that, remembering their initial conversation. “But you know what _I_ sense about _you_ , Dean?” Castiel asked coyly.

Dean’s smile turned provocative. “What’s that, Cas?”

Castiel stepped closer to Dean, so that they shared the same air. “I sense…that you will be calling me soon.” He slipped the piece of paper into Dean’s hand.

“Oh? How soon?” Dean asked with a smirk.

Castiel looked up at him through his lashes. “ _Very_ soon,” he replied, practically growling. Dean licked his lips, and Castiel followed the motion hungrily.

“Holy shit,” Dean whispered, pupils dilating. “I think you’re right.”

Castiel felt positivity devious as he leaned into Dean’s personal space, closing his eyes and breathing in deep, causing Dean to let out a ragged breath. Castiel leaned back slowly, eyes lidded. “I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?”

“I guess we will,” Dean said shakily. It was clear he was trying to seem less affected than he was, and Castiel felt drunk on the knowledge that he could actually do this to someone, to _Dean_.

Castiel felt a surge of fondness that was even warmer than the simple physical attraction building inside him, and he surged forward to give Dean a quick kiss on the cheek before climbing into his car and backing up. Dean was smiling like a dope and Castiel was sure he was doing the same.

As Castiel drove home, he thought that he would have been completely okay with giving Dean a full blown kiss, but hey…

They’d only just met, after all.


End file.
